Everything is a blur for a short while, but his warmth reminds me of where I am. It helps calm my racing pulse, allowing the afterglow to set in.
I hardly remember Sergey carrying me to the living room, but I find myself sprawled out against his chest while his fingers slowly run along my back.
Closing my eyes, I let myself melt entirely, soaking in the soft press of his lips against my temple.
Our night had been nothing short of eventful, but this…this is the only way to end it right.
Chapter 23 - Sergey
The wind coming off the water carries the stink of gasoline and blood mixed with acrid smoke and burning rubber. I grip the wheel tighter, jaw clenched, as I pull up to the loading docks and do an initial sweep of the scene once I get out.
It’s immediate chaos. Police scanners haven’t caught up yet, which means Ivan was smart enough to call me before it could turn into an even bigger shitshow. But it’s still bad regardless.
He called me when I was on my way to one of the warehouses, requesting backup to help address the situation that had greeted him first thing in the morning. Certainly not an ideal way to start the day.
While I don’t love cleanup jobs, I know it’s something I have to take in stride. And given how I’ve been walking on thin ice recently, a few dirty assignments might just earn me my brothers’ favor again.
Ivan stands near one of the shipping containers, talking low and urgently with one of our cleanup guys. When he sees me, he waves me over while looking paler than usual despite the sun hanging overhead.
"You took your time," Ivan says, but there’s no bite in it. Only a notable and understandable exhaustion.
"I got here as fast as I could," I mutter, glancing between my brother and what looks like a massacre behind him.
The docks have always been my least favorite corner of our empire, but today, it’s worse than usual. While a few others move around the space, handling the bodies before they can really get into scrubbing the scene down, another group is busysifting through shipping containers and half-broken skids of product.
"What the hell happened?"
Ivan glances behind himself with a heavy sigh. “We were hit just before dawn. A crew came in targeting a recent shipment full of fresh cargo, and they took mostly substances, along with some weapons. They offed at least five men that we know of, and three more were injured. About a quarter of the load is gone. We think they came in through the southwest fence…it seems they were in and out of here once they got what they wanted.”
I run my hand down my face, feeling the beginning of a headache forming behind my eyes. “And what about security?"
“They were knocked out before they could contact anyone, and of course, they’re among the dead. We’re lucky the backup patrol caught the tail end of it. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even know what was missing until way later.”
I nod, feeling my jaw clench. This was a calculated, intentional attack, and they knew what they were after.
I follow Ivan toward the carnage. Our men work fast to make sure the evidence is gone before any legal bodies can come sniffing around. They drag bodies out of sight, hose down the blood, and sweep up shell casings like it’s just another Tuesday.
I step over fragments of a broken pallet and catch sight of a corpse near the loading ramp. His eyes are still open and glassy despite rigor mortis having set in already. Before I can focus too much on it, I force myself to look away.
“This is nothing like how the Nikolaevs operated,” Ivan says under his breath. "This was smarter and far cleaner.”
I look over at Ivan while we share mutual grim expressions. “You’re thinking this is another to add to the long list of Balakin hits?”
“So we assume, anyway,” he murmurs, looking vaguely irritated while he silently mulls over the recent problems. “There was a short while of quiet from their side of things, and it started making us question if we were wrong about their movements after all. It didn’t seem like adequate retaliation for you marrying Katya, but now everything is up in the air without a direct threat from the man himself.”
Without hesitation, I feel it in my gut. “It’s Yuri."
Ivan raises a brow. "You sure?"
"Positive."
He nods absently to himself. “I’m leaning the same way, but we need confirmation of some kind. At the very least, a hostage would be ideal.”
“It has to be him. After that night a few weeks ago when Yuri’s guys chased down Kat and me, he must’ve been lying low to prepare for something bigger like this. Nobody else would come at us with this kind of power out of the blue,” I tell him, finding myself trying to claw at any explanation that might make sense given everything that has happened.
“In almost all ways, Yuri has been keeping things tight as far as we can tell. Our scouts are having a hell of a time even tracking him down lately,” Ivan admits, looking especially aggravated by the fact.
Before I can say anything else, one of the guys hails him down, and Ivan excuses himself and heads over to help. I nod my understanding, then I stand in place for a moment longer, mulling over what this means. If Yuri did this, he would likely befeeling brave. And if he’s getting brave, he might take a misstep and find himself cornered by us. But we have to be ready first.
